Following your diet may not be as difficult as it once was. In the past. you couldn’t get a very low-carb meal out if you were on the Atkins diet, but these days restaurants are responding to consumer diet demands for popular diet options. You can find menu offerings for the keto diet, vegetarian and vegan diets, and the Mediterranean diet., which U.S. News experts named the best diet overall in 2019. Even if a restaurant doesn’t necessarily promote a certain diet, many restaurants have made it easy for customers to select (or avoid) ingredients to adhere to their specific plan. Here are some of the options you can find throughout the U.S.:
Keto
— Taco Bell: Although Taco Bell doesn’t advertise offerings for a keto diet, the fast-food chain is able to accommodate many lifestyles since everything on the menu is customizable. For example, you can skip rice and beans and add steak and sour cream. One of Taco Bell’s most popular keto choices is its Power Menu Bowl with steak, which includes extra romaine instead of rice. Check out Taco Bell’s online nutrition calculator to make sure your choices comply before you drive through.
— Chipotle Mexican Grill: You can also make a Chipotle bowl fit a keto diet. For instance, swap the rice and beans for lettuce and add a serving of tomato salsa, guacamole and cheese. Chipotle’s website also has a nutrition calculator so you can determine what you want to order before you get there.
— KFC: If you’re following the keto plan, forgo the crispy fried chicken and select any of the grilled options at this joint. The Kentucky Grilled Chicken breast, drumstick, thigh and whole wing all have 0 grams of carbs.
— Popeyes Louisiana Chicken: A few menu options at Popeyes are keto friendly, including the three-piece Handcrafted Tenders (ordered blackened), which have 2 grams of carbs. The five piece option has 3 grams of carbs. Order either with a side of green beans for an addition 7 grams of carbs.
[See: 8 Tasty Keto Diet-Friendly Snacks]
Vegetarian and Vegan
— Panda Express: This fast-casual restaurant offers an eggplant tofu dish that consists of lightly browned tofu, eggplant and red bell peppers tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. Other vegan menu options include super greens, which is made from a healthful medley of broccoli, kale and cabbage, and can be ordered as a main or side dish.
— Dave and Buster’s: The arcade, sports-bar and restaurant now offers the Impossible burger, a delicious vegetarian option. It is a 100-percent plant-based patty with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and garlic aioli. But just because it’s vegetarian doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for a weight-loss plan. This bad boy contains 1,358 calories, so you probably want to share it with a friend … or two.
— Taco Bell: Taco Bell has 8 million vegetarian combinations, sells 350 million vegetarian items a year and approximately 7 percent of all items ordered at Taco Bell are either vegetarian friendly or made vegetarian friendly by substitution or removal. This establishment is the only quick-service restaurant with an American Vegetarian Association-certified menu. Try the breakfast soft taco (without bacon), black bean burrito, cheese quesadilla or spicy tostada,
— Au Bon Pain: Try any of this joint’s vegetarian soup options, including one with veggies, barley and lentil, another with butternut squash and apple, or the one with Tuscan white beans. Au Bon Pain also offers a vegetarian chili.
— The Cheesecake Factory: Although famous for its cheesecakes, this sit-down establishment offers a vegan cobb salad topped with grilled asparagus, green beans, roasted beets, avocado, cucumber, tomato, garbanzo beans, quinoa and farro. It’s sprinkled with almonds and sunflower seeds and served with a house vinaigrette.
— P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: You can find a whole slew of vegetarian options on this chain’s menu. Vegetarian main entrees include a Thai curry, stir-fried or steamed Buddha’s feast, stir-fried eggplant and ma po tofu. P.F. Chang’s also offers vegetarian wraps, vegetable lo mein and vegetable spring rolls.
[See: What’s Really in Those Meatless Meats?]
Mediterranean Diet
— Chick-fil-A: There are several Mediterranean options if you’re headed to this fast-food joint. One option is the market salad made with grilled chicken breast, shredded red cabbage and carrots, crumbled blue cheese and a mix of red and green apples, strawberries and blueberries. You can also opt for the Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap made with sliced grilled chicken, lettuce, red cabbage, carrots and a cheese blend, and rolled in a flaxseed flour flatbread.
— Olive Garden: This Italian-inspired sit-down restaurant offers a “Tastes of the Mediterranean” menu section with items 600 calories or less per dish. Offerings include chicken giardino (a grilled chicken and a medley of fresh vegetables tossed with pappardelle pasta and a light, lemon chicken herb sauce) and salmon piccata (a grilled salmon fillet topped with a lemon garlic butter sauce, sun-dried tomatoes and capers, and served with Parmesan-crusted zucchini).
— Panera Bread: This fast-casual restaurant offers a Mediterranean veggie sandwich made with piquant peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese, emerald greens, tomatoes, red onions and cilantro-jalapeno hummus on tomato-basil bread.
[See: 6 Healthy Choices at the Gas Station]
— Starbucks: There are several options that jibe with the Mediterranean plan including the chicken caprese sandwich, tomato and mozzarella sandwich and the turkey pesto panini. You can also pick up protein boxes that include egg and cheese or cheese and fruit, or protein bowls that include chicken and quinoa or lentils, veggies and brown rice. If you’re looking for a few breakfast options, many which are available throughout the day, opt for the breakfast wrap with spinach, feta and egg whites or the sous vide egg bites with egg white and red pepper.
More from U.S. News
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7 Dishes You Shouldn’t Make at Home
10 Lessons From Extreme Dieting
The Best Keto Menu Choices at Chain Restaurants originally appeared on usnews.com
